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Saturday, February 17, 2018

Germany's foreign minister slammed the "America first"
approach of President Donald Trump's administration Saturday, saying
that close U.S. ties with a strong European Union are as much in
Washington's interest as they are in Europe's.

German Foreign Minister
Sigmar Gabriel told world leaders and defense officials at the Munich
Security Conference that with the United States no longer the only
indisputable superpower, it makes sense for Washington to count on
traditional partners in Europe for help.

"Our strength in Europe is not sufficient for this. Neither the EU nor
the U.S. can go it alone. We have to count on our friends and our
partners," he said.

Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, met
one-on-one with Gabriel after his speech. McMaster reassured the forum
that the United States still is strongly committed to its traditional
alliances, but emphasized that "we must all share responsibility."

"International peace and
prosperity depends on all nations," McMaster said. "For this reason,
President Trump has called for stronger alliances and partnerships based
on shared values, shared interests, shared responsibilities and shared
burdens."

No country in Europe has benefited as much from American
help as Germany since World War II, Gabriel said. He said the country
"eagerly learned" principles of democracy, multilateralism,
international law and free trade from the relationship with the U.S.
\
"Maybe this can explain
why we Germans in particular are so perturbed when we look across the
Atlantic — because we no longer recognize our America," he said. "Is it
deeds, is it words, is it tweets we should look at to measure America?"

He urged a return to greater joint cooperation, saying now is not the time for "just pursuing individual national interests."

Friday, February 16, 2018

The
first estimate for euro area (A19) exports of goods to the
rest of the world in December 2017 was €180.7 billion, an increase of
1.0% compared with December 2016 (€179.0 bn).

Imports from the rest of the world stood at €155.3 bn, a rise of 2.5%
compared with December 2016 (€151.4 bn). As a result, the EURO area
recorded a €25.4 bn surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world
in December 2017, compared with +€27.6 bn in December2016.

EURO area trade rose to €142.4 bn in December 2017, up by 2.8% compared with December 2016

Thursday, February 15, 2018

At least 17 high school students are believed dead in a school
shooting in Parkland, Florida. The suspect, a 19-year-old former
student, had threatened his peers before, and collected guns at home,
students told the Miami Herald.

The US’s political response to these tragic incidents has become rote—Republicans offer up “thoughts and prayers,” Democrats demands new legislation that stands no chance of passing.

America’s gun lobby has deep pockets. The National Rifle Association
and its affiliates spent over $50 million in political advertisements in
the last US general election, boosting Republicans who promised to
support the NRA and targeting Democrats who propose stricter gun laws.

In fact, the pro-gun lobby spent over twice as much to fight
Democrats ($34.5 million), as it did to support Republicans ($14.5
million). President Donald Trump, who tweeted his condolences to
Parkland parents on Wednesday, was the biggest beneficiary of those ad
dollars.

Separately, the NRA and affiliated pro-gun groups donated millions
directly to individual politicians in Congress as well. Paul Ryan, Ryan
Zinke, and Martha McSally were among the biggest recipients in 2016:

The NRA has a dedicated lobbyist, Marion Hammer, in Florida. She has
helped make Florida a “laboratory for generating new types of gun
protections,” as NPR host Terry Gross explained last year.

This year, Hammer is pushing for legislation
that would prevent local sheriffs from testifying for gun control laws
in uniform. Meanwhile, Republican politicians in the state are pushing
to allow guns in elementary schools and airports.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

On 3 and 4 July, Chinese president Xi Jinping visited Russia for a
two-day state visit that included his third meeting with Russian
president Vladimir Putin in the space of a year.

Despite what these visits and the pledge to forge closer strategic
and economic ties between the two nations suggest – and much to the
chagrin of Vladimir Putin – Russia features awkwardly little in China’s
major strategic plans for Eurasia.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Life's experiences can make you bitter, hateful, resentful or cynical
if you let them. It's even worse if you trying to build a relationship
with the opposite gender and you already had some share of
disappointments in your life.

Sometimes it's good to go through
all those things for some individuals, because sometimes you decide
there and then that "I wouldn't never put anyone through what he or she
put me through. " .

And sometimes it's not good at all for others
because they can decide that "I will never let anyone put me through
this again, therefore I will hurt them before they hurt me" and they
just do that. Hurt or hurting people hurts people,

But honestly isn't that what life is all about? Maybe the best way to to label that is experience.

Unfortunately, the Media, and Government, which influence the majority
of the population around the world, are now all riding on the bandwagon
of combating "sexual abuse"which now mainly focuses on celebrities, the
Catholic Church, and most recently NGO's like Oxfam.

Obviously, it is important to combat sexual abuse, but it certainly
should not be on top of the list of all the other horrors the world is
facing today, like war, poverty, the causes of mass migration, or
weapons industry.

The number of people displaced from their homes due to conflict and
persecution last year exceeded 60 million for the first time in the
United Nations’ history, a tally greater than the combined populations
of the United Kingdom, or of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, says a
new report released on World Refugee Day today.

The Global Trends 2015
compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
notes that 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, an
increase of more than 5 million from 59.5 million a year earlier.

The tally comprises 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum
seekers, and 40.8 million people internally displaced within their own
countries.

Measured against the world’s population of 7.4 billion people, one in
every 113 people globally is now either a refugee, an asylum-seeker or
internally displaced – putting them at a level of risk for which UNHCR
knows no precedent.

In the past years Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia produce half the
world’s refugees, at 4.9 million, 2.7 million and 1.1 million,
respectively.Colombia in Latin America had the largest numbers of internally displaced people
(IDPs), at 6.9 million, followed by Syria’s 6.6 million and Iraq’s 4.4
million.While the spotlight last year was on Europe’s challenge to manage
more than one million refugees and migrants who arrived via the
Mediterranean, the report shows that the vast majority of the world’s
refugees were in developing countries in the global south.In all, 86 per cent of the refugees under UNHCR’s mandate records
were in low- and middle-income countries close to situations of
conflict.

Nearly 1/2 of the world's population — more
than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3
billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. 1 billion
children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000
children die each day due to poverty.

Like it or not, dear feminists, you might find sexual harassment a
terrible crime, so do most most of us, but there are also other crimes
against humanity, which are far more dangerous and deadly.

Harvey Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s most revered moguls and influential
kingpins, who has been sexually harassing and abusing women for nearly
30
years, is a terribly sad case, but in reality his case is only a drop of
water on a hot plate, compared to the results of wars, proxy wars,
hunger, or poverty around the world.

Unfortunately those horrific events hardly ever get the attention they
deserve because those problems are usually the the result of our own
governments deeds and actions and are shoved under the table.

Not one Western Government, which has taken part in the Middle East wars
has ever been asked by their Legislative Representation to justify the
destruction and enormous number of casualties suffered by the local
population, and the total failures of these wars.

"We the people" are really the only ones who can do something about
it. This destructive policy of wars has to stop and we should not get
side-tracked by the smoke-screens our Governments and media are applying
to divert our attention.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Could the next Spitzenkandidaten process elect a single president for two jobs?

Five months after European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker first
proposed combining the Commission and Council presidencies as part of
his State of the European Union speech and a week after the European
Parliament’s vote to retain the lead candidate – or Spitzenkandidaten –
process, the Commission appears ready to seriously consider the
proposal.

“Europe would function better if we were to merge the
presidents of the European Commission and the European Council,”
Juncker told the European Parliament during his annual address in
Strasbourg last September, adding, “Europe would be easier to understand
if one captain was steering the ship.”

The move would transform the EU leadership and consolidate
authority around a single figure who would campaign for the post,
Juncker is expected to outline the scenarios for EU institutional
changes over the coming years at this week’s College readout.

What is expected this week is a draft plan that will
include the option of combining the presidencies of the EU executive
body and the national government leaders.

Note EU-Digest: Good
idea, if it also provides for a universal European election for the
Presidency and is open to candidates from different political parties.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

In a year or 18 months, it’s probable that America’s top-of-mind
issue will no longer be the terrific economy. Using one of Washington,
D.C.’s favorite words, the public debate will most likely “pivot” to a
threat so gigantic it can no longer be ignored: The looming disaster of
deficits and debt.

The latest signal that our fiscal future will emerge
as tomorrow’s dominant issue: The new, bi-partisan budget deal forged by
the Senate. The accord not only greatly increases discretionary
spending over the next two years, it lifts the baseline for future
outlays by double-digits, putting deficits and debt on a far steeper
trajectory. Most of all, the measure is proof positive that both
Democrats and Republicans, and President Trump, are in denial mode. The
parties and the White House are all joining hands to make an already
grave situation even worse.

The colossal budget measure passed both the Senate and House on the
morning of February 9, ending a several-hour federal government shutdown
that started at 12:01 AM. While Trump and Congressional leaders
congratulate themselves for reaching common ground and keeping the
government funded, their bill’s real legacy will be hurrying the issue
of unsustainable deficits from the wing to center stage.

It ensures that
two milestones, bound to spook the public, arrive a lot sooner than
expected. Deficits will probably reach $1 trillion in the current or
next fiscal year, almost double what the Congressional Budget Office had
projected less than a year ago for 2018.

U.S. debt is now on track
to reach $30 trillion over the next decade. That’s over 100% of
projected GDP, well into the danger zone where investors demand higher
rates to buy government debt. And if rates do rise substantially, the
U.S. will rival the likes of Italy as one of the world’s most
debt-ravaged nations.

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INSURE-DIGEST

INSURE-DIGEST is a compilation of press reports as well as market research conducted by Europe House, Inc., for it's readers to gain more insight into the developments concerning the insurance industry as it relates to the overall global economic climate, social structure and the political environment. INSURE-DIGESTS is updated on a regular basis.

The information published by INSURE-DIGESTS does not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of Europe House, Inc., or the advertisers in INSURE-DIGEST.

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